Retirement Update

Most days start like this.

 Literally almost everyone has asked me how it feels to be retired. The short answer is pretty good. The longer answers follows. The thing I notice most is the lack of stress. I never realized how much I thought about work, even on my days off, until I didn't have to. While I was working, I would think about the next shift, what would the weather be like, with whom I was working, and what the potential workload would be. That I am not doing that nearly 24/7 is quite the relief.

I was also checking my work email a lot, along with the schedule spreadsheet and my shared documents. That stuff dominated an entire browser on my phone. All that is gone.

Our lifestyle has already changed significantly. With both of us retired, the urgency for the more mundane tasks of life is gone. We now feel more free to enjoy our morning coffee, rather than jumping up and racing around the house in an effort to complete everything before the next set of shifts arrive. Suddenly, we are not doing anything tomorrow either. 

A cheap door in it's day, but still 
beautiful.

Obviously planning appointments and getaways is so easy now. No need to plan around the work schedule, and really the only thing in the schedule is other appointments. I do need to start blocking potential vacation and get-away weeks so we can take a trip if this virus thing ever goes away.

The culprit

I have been doing some work on the house. Current project continues to be the door from the kitchen into the pantry. With the colder weather approaching, that job has taken on more urgency since the pantry is unheated. I've got most of the layers of paint, stain, and varnish off. Just need now to clean it up and rub it with some mineral oil. 

Adventures in plumbing continues as the sink drain in the half bath has started to leak again. I cannot believe what trouble that has been. Of course, it is the most inaccessible sink drain I have ever seen, and I am not looking forward to wedging myself in there again.

I've got a full cord of firewood coming later this month. I have about a half cord stacked and ready to go in the garage, but with being home this winter I expect to burn more wood. I really look forward to watching the bad weather from my couch, and not driving through it to work at 11 PM.

P.S. Google has "updated' their blogging app and I don't like it. I'm really struggling to get the blog to look the way I want it to look. Sorry about the weird picture placement and random gaps in the texts. I'm still trying to get it figured out.